2015 in Highland Park: The Top Stories Of The Year

HIGHLAND PARK, IL - 2015 was an eventful year in Highland Park, and we at Patch would like to thank you for being a part of it. Thanks for sharing your opinions and contributing to the quality of our site. The year had its fair share of tragedies and disappointments, but was also ripe with feel good stories and fun. Here’s a rundown of the most popular topics throughout the year.

Festival of Redheads Makes U.S. Debut in Highwood: The small city just north of Highland Park hosted the country’s first-ever Redhead Days festival, an affiliate of a larger celebration that draws thousands to Holland. This story was read in numerous countries around the world and brought even more attention to Highwood than the tattoo shop that opened there in early December.

Highland Park Couple Found Dead at Home: Tragedy struck the family of a Highland Park fire lieutenant in June when his parents, Pasquale and Rita Fontanini were found unresponsive at their Golf Avenue home. They suffered from high levels of carbon monoxide in the home.

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal to City’s Weapons Ban: The U.S. Supreme Court opted earlier this month not to hear an appeal to the city’s ban on high-powered assault weapons. Also: Group Wants All HP Businesses to Display ‘No Gun’ Signs

School Referendum Proves Divisive: More letters to the editor have been sent to me on this topic than any other this year. Not just in Highland Park, but throughout the North Shore. And it wasn’t close. Some say the District needs a one middle school plan to save money and provide the best education possible to students, while opponents say the increased commute times and large campus will have a negative effect on kids.

HPHS Alum Gives Commencement Speech at University of Illinois: Sheridan Metz capped off an amazing four years at the state school after she was selected by her peers to deliver the commencement speech for the University of Illinois’ college of communications in May.

MJ Can’t Sell His Home: Highland Park’s most famous former resident still can’t unload his basketball palace in town. He did help put together a pretty neat trash talking video, though.

Ravinia BBQ and Grill Closes: It was the end of a 30+-year tradition in Highland Park as Ravinia BBQ and Grill closed its doors in the Ravinia District for the final time in late November. Also: Dal Ponte Interiors Closes After 55 Years

HPHS Students Get Perfect ACT Score: Most schools could only dream of having one student achieve a perfect 36 on the ACT. This past year, Highland Park had two.

Tim’s Pick: With the amount of passion and response from the community, this is an easy one. The talk behind the District 112 referendum is it.

The most read story on Highland Park Patch from 2015 was a report about a possible breakup between ‘The Bachelor’ winner Whitney Bischoff, a Highland Park fertility nurse, and Chris Soules, the star of the show.